America in Prophecy by Ellen White [Modern Version]

A life of rebellion against God has unfitted them for heaven. Its purity, holiness, and
peace would be torture to them; the glory of God would be a consuming fire. They would long
to flee from that holy place. They would welcome destruction, that they might be hidden from
the face of Him who died to redeem them. The destiny of the wicked is fixed by their own
choice. Their exclusion from heaven is voluntary with themselves, and just and merciful on
the part of God. Like the waters of the Flood the fires of the great day declare God's verdict
that the wicked are incurable. They have no disposition to submit to divine authority. Their
will has been exercised in revolt; and when life is ended, it is too late to turn the current of
their thoughts in the opposite direction, too late to turn from transgression to obedience,
from hatred to love.
In sparing the life of Cain the murderer, God gave the world an example of what would
be the result of permitting the sinner to live to continue a course of unbridled iniquity.
Through the influence of Cain's teaching and example, multitudes of his descendants were
led into sin, until "the wickedness of man was great in the earth" and "every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." "The earth also was corrupt before God,
and the earth was filled with violence." Genesis 6:5, 11. In mercy to the world, God blotted
out its wicked inhabitants in Noah's time. In mercy He destroyed the corrupt dwellers in
Sodom. Through the deceptive power of Satan the workers of iniquity obtain sympathy and
admiration, and are thus constantly leading others to rebellion. It was so in Cain's and in
Noah's day, and in the time of Abraham and Lot; it is so in our time. It is in mercy to the
universe that God will finally destroy the rejecters of His grace.
"The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our
Lord." Romans 6:23. While life is the inheritance of the righteous, death is the portion of the
wicked. Moses declared to Israel: "I have set before thee this day life and good, and death
and evil." Deuteronomy 30:15. The death referred to in these scriptures is not that
pronounced upon Adam, for all mankind suffer the penalty of his transgression. It is "the
second death" that is placed in contrast with everlasting life.
In consequence of Adam's sin, death passed upon the whole human race. All alike go
down into the grave. And through the provisions of the plan of salvation, all are to be brought
forth from their graves. "There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust;"
"for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." Acts 24:15; I Corinthians 15:22.
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